[greenjudy]

Hi Sarafigal, just by chance I dropped by the forum and found your post. I’d be happy to describe my experiences with the Stivell and how it compares to the Pratt I owned back in the day.

The Stivell is a ‘retiree’–a harp that was apparently used for performing, but was well cared for. After a rash of string breakages in the upper registers in the first few months I had it, it has somehow adapted, even with the challenging heat waves we’ve endured this year in Northern California, and has gotten much better at holding its tuning, with far fewer breakages.

This is a ‘folk gut’ instrument that requires a distinctly lighter touch than the Pratt did. While it looks like a lighter instrument in terms of its shape, it’s actually quite comparable to the Pratt weight-wise, maybe in part because of the doubled soundboard. I don’t travel with the Stivell (although its previous owner did!).

The sound is much sharper than the big warm dark Pratt, especially in the upper register. Especially if you play with a fairly firm touch, the tones take on an urgency or intensity that seems to be a signature of its sound, based on the few recordings I have heard.

The bottom register roars. It’s probably my favorite thing about the Stivell, although if I’m not careful, bass lines can become undifferentiated in the ‘wall of sound.’ I’ve had to adjust my left-hand playing to find ways to take advantage of this roaring quality without drowning in it.

In all, I’ve found this a lovely, agreeable harp, especially for its age, good for improvising. I am still trying to decide if I am altogether satisfied, because there are some important elements to the playing experience that I am not sure I love. I miss the more rounded tones of the Pratt, the way it responded to a firm touch, and the wonderful separation of notes–a product, I guess, of the perfectly balanced decay.

If you are contemplating a Stivell as opposed to a Pratt because of height and weight considerations, I think it would be better to think of them as in a similar weight class but with very, very different sounds–so perhaps not the best alternative for your needs. I’ve never played a Camac Korrigan, but maybe something along those lines would get you closer? I believe the Korrigan is strung with concert gut.

I hope these reflections were helpful. 🙂

(To Wil-Weten et.al., I’ve been amazed and pleased at the way the Stivell has adapted to my living situation, not unlike my tiny Bardic tank…!)

[greenjudy]

Hi wil-weten, I’ve placed my deposit. I’ll update when the Stivell arrives; it will be some time before it all can be arranged.

Thanks so much for all your thoughts and advice! I’m really pleased and looking forward to my new (to me) harp.

[greenjudy]

Thank you so much, wil-weten. There’s been a slight plot twist, and I am looking seriously at a second-hand Camac Stivell that might suit my needs. The weight is considerable–almost as much as a Pratt–but the harp is a little more compact and I think it will fit in my car.

If my plans change and I end up tasting Camacs over the holidays, I will definitely share my impressions…! 🙂

[greenjudy]

Dear wil-weten, apologies for the long delay in my response.

I’ve obtained a humidity gauge and a humidifier; I should know a bit more about how dry it really is in the room very soon.

Your post has been really helpful for me in my efforts to clarify what I want. The “Pratt sound” is one that I love almost over any other harp, although that Cromos sound, quite different, is also very special. In general I prefer dark and warm to the traditional bright Celtic sound. I think I’d like at least 36 strings.

You asked what sort of music I want to play. I have broad tastes, and my “wish list” right now is eclectic. It includes Andres and Einaudi, a Bach prelude in C minor that I learned on the piano as a kid, but also works by Stivell and Maeve Gilchrist and even some music from the video game Final Fantasy VII. I was able to play all this sort of thing on the Pratt in a way that satisfied me, although of course Celtic pieces sound a lot less “Celtic” on such an instrument.

When I played the Pratt, I especially appreciated how the bass notes were never muddy. When I improvised, I could layer chords and patterns over each other and it didn’t just turn into soup. (This makes me sound like I know what I’m doing–but really I am just a self-taught player who needs to practice a lot more.)

If I didn’t have any other considerations, I’d order an Empress and call it a day. 😉 I wouldn’t need to travel with the harp, except when it needed regulation, and I don’t need to worry about stairs. So from a pure playing standpoint, it would make me very happy.

But I do have both environmental issues, and the important consideration of how to transport my harp in the event of a fire. I live not far from the Kinkade fire that is still burning now. Fires have become our “new normal” in Northern California, and this year for the first time we had an evacuation warning in my area. I can’t assume 2020 or 2021 won’t bring a fire that burns me out of my home.

Those are the considerations that lead me to consider alternatives to Pratt at this point. In the community where I live, I might have to help others evacuate, which means I can’t load my car up with a lot of my own stuff. Of course I can get insurance for any instrument, but it’s a lot easier to imagine successfully evacuating with a harp that weighs 30 pounds than one that weighs 50.

The Cromos is a better fit in terms of its size, but I imagine that such a fine instrument might be unhappy in my space, even if I keep it well conditioned with humidifiers, dehumidifiers, etc.

This brings me back to those lovely, sturdy Camacs. I might be able to try some in southern California over the holiday.

Thanks again for your lovely responses to my queries.

• This reply was modified 6 years, 9 months ago by greenjudy.

[greenjudy]

Hi wil-weten,

Thanks so much for your speedy reply!

I’m still living out in coastal Northern CA – about two ridges east of the Pacific Ocean – but my work and living situation has thoroughly stabilized since 2016, and I have a lot better understanding of the environmental factors here.

I must have made it sound like I lived in a cave…! 😀 In fact, my space is pretty comfortable. I keep it heated in the winter, so there are no abrupt hot-cold shifts in my world. There are a few days out of every year where I experience indoor temperatures upwards of 90 degrees F, because I have no air conditioning. But again, no dramatic sudden changes.

I’ve had a Camac Bardic 27 since 2016–a cute little tank! It has done just fine here, probably in part because I can control the humidity during the torrential rainy season pretty well by keeping the space heated; I’ve also had pretty good success minimizing drafts. The Bardic doesn’t seem to mind the very low humidity my part of Northern California experiences between mid-October and mid-November, although if I were to get another harp, I would like to consult this group about whether you think I would be better off running a humidifier for that period.

Much as I love my Bardic, I *do* miss a larger harp, and heartily regret having let go of the Pratt. Now that I’m about to turn 50, I’m feeling a strong urge to bring a larger instrument back into my life.

Regarding string tension: I was very comfortable with the Pratt’s concert tension, but have also done fine with the tension of the Bardic. I am still really interested in the Excalibur, even though I’ve heard that the Bardic actually has a higher string tension than the Excalibur (!). The Korrigan is another choice I am contemplating. I guess from what you linked me that the Cromos would be more “folk gut tension,” which I could probably adapt to without too much difficulty, if I liked the sound and feel enough.

Speaking of folk gut, I’m not a giant fan of the Dusty Strings sound, but I am quite interested in the Boulevard. (I might rent one for 2020, to give me time to build up the resources for a very good harp in 2021.)

Pardon my rambling! I was so struck by the complexity of sound I heard in the Cromos that I wanted to see what others thought. It sounds like the shipping and fees would be pretty daunting.

Thanks again. 🙂

[greenjudy]

Thank you so much for referring me to your review of the Excalibur…! I am still really drawn to the Salvi Donegal (it is a brighter, drier tone, but there’s something about the touch of the strings and the precision of the sound I really liked); but the Excalibur seems like a very special harp.

It strikes me that if I want to just get a sense of what it would be like to move an Excalibur around, perhaps a Triplett Eclipse (which at least recently was on hand at my local harp shop) might help me get a sense of how much of an armful an Excalibur would be.

Many thanks. 🙂

[greenjudy]

Hi byouke,

Thanks so much for your reply! Please forgive my delayed response; I’m in a place with very iffy internet at the moment.

I have been very impressed with both the Isolde and the Excalibur as heard in videos and recordings. If I had no constraints on my purchase, I think I’d be very interested, in particular, in the Excalibur. (François Pernel is basically my hero.)

But I’m not sure whether I would find the Excalibur portable enough for my needs. I just relinquished my beautiful Pratt Chamber Harp because it was too big, too heavy, and a little too temperature-sensitive for my lifestyle. I travel back and forth a lot and spend a lot of my time in a remote retreat area where it is difficult for me to control temperature and humidity. I don’t necessarily need a travel harp, per se, but for now at least I certainly need a harp I can confidently put in the back of my car and tote from place to place without it being a big production. And I am pretty firmly committed to fluorocarbon strings; I’m not crazy about nylon, and gut, while gorgeous-sounding, is too expensive and unpredictable for me, for the time being.

Did you play the Excalibur yourself..? If you have (or if any other readers have) I would love to hear about the experience!

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